Month: June 2024

What I’m reading this Summer

It is summertime, and I hate it. I hate this season so much. It is too hot, it gets dark too late, light too early, and everyone is outside. So going to the park with Oliver, or to do witchy things, or to just read, is a miserable experience right now. My electric bill is through the roof, and I cannot bake anything without wanting to die.

So I might as well stay inside and read.

Here’s what I intend to read this Summer. Some of these books are ones I failed to read in Winter and Spring. Some are witchy books. Some are writing books. Some are coming out this Summer and some have been around for a while.

Will I get to them all? Probably not. I might get distracted and re-read From a Buick 8 for the seventh time. But I am sure as hell going to try.

Rainbow Magic by Molly Roberts

This book isn’t the sort that you sit down and read through. It’s a project book. And I am excited to get started on these projects. Expect lots of color projects shared on Instagram and some color-inspired poetry. Everything Roberts does makes me want to just explode with creativity. She makes me want to be a better, messier, happier witch and writer.

Inspiring Creativity by Astrea Taylor

This book was recommended to me because of my love of Molly Roberts. So, I thought I’d check it out. It is another book about ritualizing your art. I’m very excited to read it.

A Rather Haunted Life by Ruth Franklin

I’m a big Shirley Jackson fan, if you can’t tell my constant Haunting of Hill House references. So I am excited to learn more about her life. Though, based on what I already know about her life, this isn’t likely to be a light read. But I think it’ll be a good one.

Welcome to Night Vale by Joseph Fink

You might be surprised to know that I’ve never listened to the Welcome to Night Vale podcast. It’s on my list but there are so. Many. Episodes! And I am not the sort of person who can just listen to the recommended ones, I have to read them all. But, this book seems like a good introduction to the world. And, Joseph Fink wrote Alice isn’t Dead, which was a fantastic podcast and book. So this one should be right up my creepy little ally.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman

It wouldn’t be a book list from me if I didn’t have some Gaiman on it. This one is apparently about the faie, so Summer seems the best time to read it.

Grimoire of the Thornblooded Witch by Raven Grimassi

This book comes highly recommended by people with good taste. It seems to be about Earth magic, but I haven’t cracked into it yet so I don’t know.

Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine

Valentine is becoming a buy-on-sight author for me. She wrote How to Survive Your Murder and Delicate Condition, both of which were fantastic. This book comes out near the end of the month, and I am stoked to read it. Watch Haunted MTL for the review.

The Seventh Veil of Salome by Sylvia Moreno-Garcia

It’s becoming a Summer tradition, me and the newest release for Moreno-Garcia. Last year it was Silver Nitrate, the year before it was The Daughter of Dr. Moreau. This one is about a dark history and Hollywood in the 1950s. I cannot wait.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

It also wouldn’t be a book list from me without an inclusion from the King. And this might surprise you, but I’ve never read any of The Gunslinger series. But it’s referenced in Hearts in Atlantis and From a Buick 8. And I loved both of those books. Actually, I think it would be easier to list the King books I haven’t liked. So I’m going to give this a try.

Where The Gods Left Off by Sara Raztresen

If it wasn’t already obvious, I am a Christian Witch. And I am not the only one. There are dozens of us. Dozens!

Raztresen is a great educator. I haven’t read any of her books yet, but I watch her YouTube videos and follow her on Instagram. I am eager to see how much knowledge she has to give in print form.

Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

I meant to read this at the start of the year, but I have been having a hard time finding it. But it seems like a great sci-fi murder mystery. And, of course, I love Mur Lafferty.

Let The Whole Thundering World Come Home by Natalie Goldberg

I have read so many of Goldberg’s books, and every one just feels like a hug. Her writing style is so gorgeous, showing the beauty and sorrow of everyday moments.

Now I want to hear from you. What are you reading? What’s on your Summer Reading List? Do you want to yell at me for hating Summer? Let me know in the comments.

Paper Beats World is a labor of love. If you love what we do here, please like and share this post. You can also support us financially on Ko-fi.

Man in The Woods is now available for preorder on Smashwords!

0

Man in The Woods is going wide!

If you’ll recall, last year I got the rights back to a whole bunch of my books. I immediately set about relaunching the works myself, starting with my eerie short haunted woods story, Man in The Woods.

This is a great story if you hate those massive planned neighborhoods that seem to pop up like fungus. It’s a great story if you’ve ever thought you saw someone standing in the woods when there shouldn’t have been anybody there.

It’s a great story if you like things that sing in the night with malicious intent.

Until now, it hasn’t been a story for anyone who doesn’t like shopping on Amazon. But on July 5th, that’s going to change. Because The Man in The Woods is going wide.

The story will be available on all major retailers, including Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, and the Google Play store. It might even soon be available on Hoopla, though I have to confirm that.

I’m so excited my spooky little story will be available to everyone on July 5th. And if you haven’t had a chance to read it already, I look forward to you meeting the Man in The Woods.

0

Trans speculative fiction writers to follow

It’s Pride Month! At least I think it still is. I was once again sick during Nebula Con. Don’t know what deity I pissed off that this happened two years in a row but I’m sorry already! As if that wasn’t bad enough, I was also sick on my birthday. So for the first nine days of Pride, Nebula Con, and my 38th birthday I was sleeping or suffering.

But I survived! I’m here now, full of new story ideas and bisexual pride. So let’s get the rainbow rolling!

I am blessed in my life to know many LGBTQ+ people. And I’m always overjoyed to talk about the writers I’ve loved who happen to be gay. But I realized recently that I don’t know of a lot of work written by trans writers. Which is strange, because I know two trans authors. One has been a friend for years, and the other is a mutual in SFWA that I am in constant awe of.

So, why am I not reading more speculative fiction written by trans writers? Possibly because I’ve been reading the same four authors almost exclusively for a few years now. This is an issue and I need to work on it. To help, I’ve found five trans authors who are writing great work. Some are novelists. Some are critics. Some I know personally and some I just wish I did. All of them are great writers out there living their true lives.

Foz Meadows

Meadows is the author of The Accident of Stars and A Tyranny of Queens. A glance through their website confirms that they have wonderful taste in webcomics. They’ve been published everywhere I want to be published. I cannot wait to dig into their work, because it looks fantastic.

J.M Brannyk

Brannyk is an opinion writer, artist, and critic. Their work can be found on HauntedMTL, Gayley Dreadful, and many other places. They’re also a fantastic voice actor, playing Rose in my sci-fi horror podcast, AA.

Brannyk is funny, insightful, and eloquent. While they don’t write speculative fiction, their grasp of the form is clear in their critical reviews. And I’ve never read anything by them that wasn’t funny as hell.

Jordy Rosenberg

Jordy Rosenberg wrote Confessions of The Fox, a book I cannot wait to get my hands on. He’s also an associate professor and is often published in places like The New York Times and The Boston Review. Overall, he is a way more professional writer than me and I am intimidated.

Jordan Kurella

Author of the novella I Never Liked You Anyway, Jordan Kurella is an amazing speculative fiction writer. His short work is found in Apex and Lightspeed. He was a panelist at Nebula Con this year. I’ve never read one of Jordan’s stories that wasn’t funny and fantastic. Ten out of ten, every time.

Kit Mayquist

Kit Mayquist is the author of Tripping Arcadia. And anything that’s described as a gothic novel is going to be right up my alley. It’s also been compared favorably to Mexican Gothic, which you know is one of my favorite modern horror novels.

Kit has also been published in Writers Digest, which has been a dream of mine since I was thirteen years old. I also get some witchy vibes from his Instagram photos. So clearly, I want to be his best friend.

My TBR list is getting bigger, better, and more diverse, and I cannot be happier about that. But of course, these were only five trans writers. I know this is a world of fiction that I am just starting to explore. So please let me know in the comments some trans writers you love.

Paper Beats World is a labor of love. If you want to support what we do here, please like this post and share it. You can also support us financially on Ko-fi.

0

A WordPress.com Website.

Up ↑